


On Aprons and Memories

by WyrdeKid



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Angst, Gender Neutral Napstablook, Gender-Neutral Frisk, I have no excuse for this, Mettaton and Napstablook show up as well, Minor Alphys/Undyne, Past Child Death, as though there weren't enough fics about sans being sad, but I'd say it's pretty plausible, but not shipped they're cousins, headcanon use in play, oh god why did i post this
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-22
Updated: 2015-11-22
Packaged: 2018-05-02 20:32:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,605
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5262515
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WyrdeKid/pseuds/WyrdeKid
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Frisk decides to wear the apron from the underground, after Toriel cleans it up a bit.</p><p>This is based on the headcanon that Asgore didn't collect all of the souls himself, if you know what I mean.</p>
            </blockquote>





	On Aprons and Memories

**Author's Note:**

> This has been on my computer a week, so I figured, why not?  
> I hope it isn't terrible.

"What do you think, Flowey?" Frisk turned around to show off the apron. "Now that Toriel fixed it up, it's much better, I think."

Flowey rolled his eyes. "Pfft, if you say so."

Frisk lightly batted his head as punishment. "Don't be mean, now come on." They picked up his pot and started toward the kitchen. "Everyone will be coming over tonight and we're going to help Mom cook."

Flowey hissed softly. "I'm not calling her Mom."

"You don't have to."

In the kitchen, Toriel had already begun cooking, a pot of water already boiling.

"We're here to help, Mom!" Toriel almost dropped the package of meat she'd been pulling out of the fridge.

"Frisk!" She chuckled breathlessly with a hand on her chest. "You surprised me." Frisk smiled deviously and chuckled. After pinching their cheek in mock punishment, Frisk's intentions got through to Toriel.

"Oh, you want to help me make dinner!" She hugged them. "I'd love your help."

Toriel tasked Frisk with getting chunks of the ground beef and rolling it into lumps for meatballs, and even though she didn't really want Flowey in the kitchen, for Frisk's sake she had him stir the sauce.

"With all this extra time, I can start dessert." She flipped through her recipe book, eager to make something new. "How do... lemon bars sound?" Frisk cheered and Flowey hissed some more.

"So lemon bars then."

Undyne got there at 6:30 precisely, not one for being late. She saw Frisk and immediately swooped them up and threw them down on the living room couch, making them shriek with laughter.

"Say, didn't you have that little apron on when you tried to steal my girlfriend?" Undyne tugged at it playfully.

"Mom washed it for me, and patched it up a little too. I wore it because I helped make dinner."

"Bleggh! Then I guess dinner's gonna suck!" She teased while mussing up their hair.

Before any irreparable follicle damage took place, Toriel came in and greeted Undyne, inviting her into the dining room.

"So, where is Alphys?" Toriel asked while she poured Undyne a glass of water.

"Oh, she's coming, she's just a bit slow going today."

"Mmm." Toriel nodded sadly in understanding. "Well I hope she perks up soon."

The door bell chime interrupted their conversation.

"I'll get it!" Frisk called. They opened the door to find Asgore holding a bouqet of yellow carnations.

"Hello Frisk, might I come in?" They nodded and moved aside. He was always nervous around Frisk, his guilt tugging everytime he saw them even though the child held no grudge against him.

"I don't think Mom will want those, just warning you." They said after greeting him with a hug.

"Oh, these aren't for Tori -er, Toriel, they're for you." Frisk's face lit up.

"You brought me flowers!" He handed them the bouquet.

"Well, I had so many, and I knew Toriel wouldn't want them, so I thought you would appreciate them." He smiled as Frisk smelled the flowers and twirled around.

Asgore sat on the couch with Frisk, waiting for the other guests. They noticed his demeanor was still tense and awkward, so they climbed up on his lap and hugged his face.

"Cheer up, fluffy face." He smiled and chuckled, relaxing a little.

"Thank you Frisk. So, how is your education coming along?" They made a face.

"La-ame." Before they had to say any more, a call came from outside.

"Helllooooo? We have arrived." A smooth, metallic voice announced from behind the door.

"That's Mettaton." Frisk pet his nose once more before bounding to the door.

"Frisk!" He bent down and curled his finger around a lock of their hair.

"Aren't you looking especially cute today?"

"It's the apron." They assured before moving aside to let the robot in.

"Alphy and Naps came with, they're both still in the car." He told them. Sure enough, Frisk looked back out to see the dinosaur and ghost coming up the walk. They waved to the two.

"Hey guys!"

"Hi Frisk!" Alphys said when she reached the door.

"Hi." Napstablook spoke quietly. "I'm sorry I'm late." Frisk hugged them.

"No one's upset with you." The ghost floated away, whispering something sadly.

"What kept you guys?" Frisk asked after hugging Alphys hello. She rubbed the back of her neck and looked at her feet.

"I-uh- we... today's been..."

"You don't have to talk about it if you don't want to." They assured her. "It only matters that you're feeling good enough to come." Alphys smiled at them before noticing Undyne waving and headed over to her.

~

 

It was now 6:45 and Frisk was a little worried two very important guests weren't going to show up.

"You're concerned about Sans and Papyrus, aren't you?" Asgore asked when he noticed Frisk with their face pressed against the window.

"Why are they this late?" He placed a light hand on their shoulder.

"I promise everything is fine, if it wasn't, one of them would have called." Frisk lit up.

"Duh! I should call!" They pulled out their phone and dialed for Papyrus. "He always picks up the phone." They explained to Asgore.

One ring later, Frisk was treated to her skeletal friend shouting over an engine revving.

"Yes hello Frisk! It is I, the Great Papyrus! I take it you wish to inquire as to why we have not yet arrived at the dinner? Well, we are currently en route and should be arriving... we are on your street." The sound of the motorcycle driving up the street began to match the sound over the phone.

"Finally!" Undyne shouted. "We can eat!" Alphys chuckled at her girlfriend's enthusiasm, also glad they could start dinner.

Overjoyed that now everyone would be together, Frisk ran outside to greet them as they rode up on Sans' motorcycle, Papyrus riding in a sidecar. They greeted Papyrus first.

"Hello Frisk! Our tardiness is due to Sans and I arguing for 10 minutes about who got to drive."

"And he won?" Papyrus crossed his arms.

"He won the coin toss." They hugged and the skeleton went inside to greet the others.

"Hey Sans!" They called to get his attention, as he was still propping up the bike. He turned to look, and immediately Frisk thought he seemed odd. Instead of returning the greeting and giving a hug or a hair tousle, he just looked at them a second, but not really at them, it seemed.

"Uh, hey kid." He responded finally after shaking his head. "How you doing?" He only patted their shoulder once before going inside, not waiting for the answer. Frisk's heart sank.

~

Inside, now that everyone was finally there, dinner was being served. Frisk was seated inbetween Toriel and Sans, as per request. They took this as an opportunity to find out what was wrong.

"Hey Sans, are you doing all right?" Frisk whispered. "Does it have to do with the... you know?" They usually refrained from addressing the resets by name, especially in front of people who don't know.

"Nah kid, I... I'm fine. I'm fine." He didn't even turn to look at them.

Dinner conversation was energetic as usual, but Sans and Frisk's lack of involvement was quite noticable. Toriel picked up on her child's silence and attempted to bring them in.

"You know, if you like the meatballs, you have Frisk to thank. They came in with that cute little apron and helped me make all this." Everyone started smiling and making comments about how much they liked the meatballs and what a great job Frisk did, all except Sans. He just stared at his plate, fork twirled around noodles he seemed to have forgotten about.

"Sans, why have you not complimented Frisk's exemplary contribution to this magnificent spaghetti?" Papyrus asked his brother, somewhere between annoyed and concerned. No response.

"Hey Sans, you all right?" Alphys asked, fiddling nervously with her glasses. She knew what bad days looked like. He didn't respond, just slowly put down his fork. Now everyone was looking at him.

"Sans?" Frisk put their hand on his shoulder, but he immediately shrugged it off.

"I..." He forcefully pushed away from the table, accidentally tipping over his water.

"I gotta..." He stumbled away, towards the bathroom. Everyone was shocked, Toriel covering her mouth to suppress a gasp. Papyrus got up to go after him, Frisk following.

"Sans, we know that this room's function only serves Frisk! Unless you're planning on taking a shower, which I doubt, you have no admissable reason to be in there!" He shouted through the door. They heard a crash. Papyrus instantly slammed the door, but it was locked.

"Sans, are you all right?" He called again. Frisk left to get a pin from their room and ran back.

"I can pick it." They whispered to the concerned skeleton. Having done this a few times (Flowey sometimes liked to lock them out), they accomplished this rather quickly. Papyrus threw the door open the moment he heard the lock click, nearly knocking Frisk over.

Inside, Sans was curled up on the floor, the towel rack broken next to him. The two rushed over and dropped to the ground beside him.

"Sans, what happened?" Papyrus' voice was softer and even more worried.

"Oh, you know me, just taking a nap." He chuckled forcefully.

"Sans this is in no way a normal nap. Now tell me, why have you fallen?" He squeezed his brother's shoulder. Frisk wanted to say something, but words were lost to them.

"I just... Look Pap, I'm okay. I'm just tired."

"Something tells me that isn't true Sans." Toriel's soft voice interjected. The three were surprised to turn and see everyone huddled at the bathroom door, faces etched with worry.

"It's okay to tell us when something's bothering you. Keeping it inside... doesn't ever help." Alphys wrung her hands as she spoke, remembering her own breakdowns.

"We could put dinner on hold if you wish." Asgore offered. "Perhaps some tea in the living room?"

They were all doing their best to help their friend, but he wouldn't budge.

"At least tell us what troubles you." His brother spoke again. Sans finally reacted, but not as expected. He began to laugh bitterly.

"I can't tell you. I can't be helped." He talked like he was choking back tears even though he wouldn't stop laughing. "I should be burning in hell."

Everyone was now even more frightened.

"What are you talking about?" Papyrus nearly whimpered.

"Just get the kid to take that thing off." He practically begged, head turned from Frisk. Realization spiked within Asgore.

"Frisk, please come with me a moment." The king asked softly, if urgently. They were reluctant to leave Sans, but Asgore seemed to know something important. No one followed, too worried about the skeleton to pay much mind.

"Frisk," his voice was heavy, like when they had fought. It made Frisk a little worried. "You know of the other souls, the other children?" They nodded.

"Well, you see, that apron must have belonged to one of them." They froze a little, nearly gasping.

"Sans must feel... guilty for not being able to save that child from their...fate. Do you see what I mean?" Frisk nodded. He patted their back gently.

"So perhaps if you took it off, just while he's around, it would help."

"I see what you mean." Frisk agreed, and untied the back knot and lifted the apron off.

"I'll put it in my room."

"There you go." He smiled, but it looked forced. Frisk couldn't help but feel they were being lied to.

Once in their room, they saw Flowey grinning maliciously.

"What are you doing?" They asked while laying the apron on their bed.

"Nothing, just thinking about all the bridges I could sell you." Frisk looked at him, confused. He sighed dramatically.

"Here's an idea: When the two of you are alone, tell Sans you know why the apron upset him."

"Whatever Flowey." They said before leaving. But they had to wonder, Asgore's story didn't add up. Sans wasn't the type to feel bad about not doing enough, he certainly never apologized for sleeping through their fight with Undyne. Something he said that they tried not to think about came to mind.

"If it wasn't for that promise, you'd be dead where you stand." Frisk went back, now without the apron, and saw Sans was already beginning to recover. He was standing, with Papyrus supporting his shoulders, and Toriel cooing about how he should be more open about when he's having a bad day.

"It didn't start like this." He mumbled.

"Sans?" Frisk walked in, noticing how he visibly relaxed when he saw them.

"Hey kid, sorry if I scared ya." He smiled, a little weakly. They walked up and hugged him.

"You didn't scare me, but we were all worried." They smiled. "Shall we go back to dinner?" Everyone looked at him expectantly.

"Sounds good to me." His smile was stronger. The whole house seemed to sigh in relief. The tension broken, friendly chatter started up again immediately, with Papyrus clutching his shoulders and telling him he was great, and Undyne lightly punching his shoulder. Toriel and Asgore, with all their wisdom, seemed worried still, but set it aside. Sans was an adult, not in their jurisdiction.

Back at the table, Sans actually ate his food, and immediately told Frisk they were a meatball virtuoso.

"Not as good as my bro, but getting there." They smiled and ate as well, but they couldn't stop thinking about Flowey and what Sans had said all that time ago.

When everyone was done, Toriel cheerfully announced dessert, which for them meant that people could disperse and talk elsewhere. Undyne took the opportunity to show Papyrus and Alphys some karate moves she'd learned, while Napstablook showed their cousin some new mixes that the robot praised to no end. Frisk noted that in the kitchen their mom and Asgore were actually talking, and she seemed happy. Despite all this, Frisk knew there was something they had to do.

"Hey Sans." They went up to the skeleton, who was passed out on the couch.

"Hey kid." He said sleepily, stretching his arms. "What's up?"

"Can we eat outside?" The two settled in on the backyard porch swing, both holding small plates of lemon bars.

"So what do you want to say kid?" Some of Sans' tension was coming back, even though he tried to hide it.

"Sans." They were looking down. "It was my apron, wasn't it?"

"Hey, look kid-"

"You killed the kid who wore it first, didn't you?" They still weren't looking at him. He felt like he couldn't breathe.

"Look, I..I..." He couldn't speak, but instead buried his face in his hands.

"Oh god kid, please don't be scared of me. Don't hate me. Please, please, please don't hate me." He radiated despair, his shoulders shaking violently, the lemon treats falling to the floor. They realized he was crying.

"Please don't tell them. Don't tell Papyrus, don't tell Toriel, please-" Frisk cut him off with a hug.

"I love you Sans. I'll always love you. No one has to know, I promise."

He paused a moment, stunned. "Kid," he was choking back his tears, "why are you hugging me? I- I killed-" Frisk put their hand on his mouth. He smiled and hugged Frisk back, lifting them onto his lap. They didn't say anything for a while, just watched the sky, shades of orange already forming, anticipating the sunset. After a while, Sans spoke again.

"I love you too Frisk."

**Author's Note:**

> Because there apparently wasn't enough sad skeleton in the world.


End file.
